


Four times Lucius stole a kiss (And one time he didn't have to)

by Elennare



Category: High Rollers DnD (Web Series)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:00:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22726552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elennare/pseuds/Elennare
Summary: Snapshots of Lucius and Quill's relationship over time.
Relationships: Qillek Ad Khollar/Lucius Virion-Elluin Elenasto
Comments: 9
Kudos: 34





	Four times Lucius stole a kiss (And one time he didn't have to)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dementorsatemysoup](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dementorsatemysoup/gifts).



> For dementorsatemysoup, who gave me the prompt "stolen kiss" :)
> 
> ETA: janamensch on tumblr drew some utterly adorable art for this fic! [Look at it here!](https://janamensch.tumblr.com/post/190841234654/elennare-wrote-this-beautiful-and-super-cute)

**I.**

“Quill? Is everything all right?” Lucius asked from the doorway to the map room.

Quill jumped. He'd been staring at the map before him so intently he hadn't heard Lucius arrive. “Oh! Lucius! Yes, everything's fine, I was just thinking about how best to approach the Valley, to keep us safe… or as safe as we can be, I guess.”

Lucius came properly into the room, and perched on the table next to Quill's map. "Are you nervous about going back?" he asked gently.

"I… yes," Quill admitted with a sigh. “I - I've been dreading it ever since H'Esper first told me I had to go there, and then when Johan came to tell me the storms were getting worse, I… I'm scared. I already lost a wing there! What if I'm struck again? What if one of you is hurt? We're going to use Aila as a  _ lightning rod _ , what if she can't take it?”

“Quill!” Lucius cut across his panicked questions. “H'Esper showed you how this would happen, right? Us reaching the Valley? Well, you trust that, don't you?”

“Ye - Yes, I think so… but there's a dragon in the Valley that I have no idea how we're meant to deal with, and - and the future isn't fixed, I just see the most likely way for it to happen,” Quill said. “Things could still go wrong.”

“But they could also go right,” Lucius pointed out.

Quill smiled up at his friend. “I know… but I can't help worrying. I'm scared about getting into the Valley, about what we'll find there… about probably running into my family…”

Lucius tilted his head thoughtfully. “I know it's none of my business, but why haven't you ever reached out to them?”

“They wouldn't want me to. I - I'm a failure.”

"Yes, being the chosen of H'Esper is such a failure," Lucius said pointedly, raising his eyebrows.

“I failed the messenger test,” Quill answered, shrugging. “Almost no one fails that, they don’t let you even attempt it if they don’t think you’re ready. Occasionally someone will lose their nerve at the last moment, or get turned around in the storms, but… no-one's been dumb enough to get struck, except me. Everyone else in my family passed it brilliantly… They'd just be disappointed in me, it was better like this.”

For a long moment, Lucius was silent. “I was a disappointment to Daddy a lot of the time, but you and Edea both told me he grieved when they thought I was dead,” he finally said, voice barely above a whisper. “I'd still give… almost anything to see him and Mummy again.”

“Oh, Lucius, I'm so sorry,” Quill stammered, reaching out and laying a hand on his friend's arm. “I didn't - didn't think - ”

Lucius laid his own hand over Quill's and squeezed it gently. “It's fine. I just… I'm sure your family would want to know you're alive.”

Quill sighed. “I'm still an aarakocra who can't fly… and flying is everything to my people, to my family, we've always been proud of being some of the best flyers around.” He shook his head. “Maybe… maybe you're right, I don't know… I'll think about it, I promise.”

“Good,” Lucius said, nodding at him. 

“And… Lucius…” Quill hesitated, unsure how to word this, then continued, “I don't… I didn't know your father, I can't tell you how he felt before - unless I asked the Eye, I will if you want me to, if there's ever anything you want to know! But I'm sure he would be proud of you now.”

Lucius smiled sadly. “Thank you, Birdie.”

They sat silently together for a few moments, both caught up in their thoughts. Then, suddenly - so fast it was over almost before Quill could notice it - Lucius leaned forward and kissed his cheek. As Quill stared up at him, stunned, he hopped off the table and hurried towards the door, colour rising in his cheeks.

“Well anyway I'll let you get back to your map I'm sure you're busy good to talk to you bye,” he said in one breath, and was gone before Quill could react.

Left alone, Quill reached up wonderingly to touch his face, where Lucius's lips had brushed it. What… could it… could it possibly be… no, surely not… and yet why had he run off like that if it wasn't? 

“Oh, H'Esper, what do I do?” he asked aloud. 

There was no direct reply, but a memory echoed in his head.  _ “Ask the right questions.” _ The right questions, what were the right questions here? Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he went after Lucius before he could change his mind. 

The high elf had vanished from view in the time it had taken Quill to recover from his astonishment, but there were several crew members around, and he soon found out Lucius had gone to his quarters. That same rush and bustle all around him propelled him forward; if it had been quieter, he knew he would have hesitated outside the door for a good long while, but he didn't want anyone to see him doing so. So he rapped at the door, and hurried in when Lucius called to do so.

“Quill!” Lucius said, jumping up and hastily tucking something - a quill pen? - into a pocket. "I…" he trailed off, seemingly at a loss for words.

“You… you kissed me,” Quill said, a “why?” implicit in his tone.

“I - yes - it - it's what best friends do, isn't it?” Lucius replied.

Best friends. Was that it? Quill wondered. Was that all it was? Should he just drop it now? Maybe if he did things could still go back to what they'd always been… maybe Lucius would kiss him again as a friend, but if he said something now and Lucius didn't feel the same way he never would - no, no, it wasn't fair to Lucius not to tell him how much it would mean to Quill, and it would hurt so much to know it didn't mean the same to Lucius. 

He looked intently at his friend, trying to read beyond his words. He seemed nervous, unsettled - was it because he had realised how Quill felt, and didn’t feel the same way? Or because he did? Was that hope, in his odd-coloured eyes, or was Quill just projecting his own hope? If it was hope, maybe Lucius had meant that kiss to show his feelings and then panicked, and was too afraid to admit them now? Ask the right questions… Maybe the right question here needed to have an answer in it.

“Was it just because we're best friends?” Quill asked. “Or do you… do you… feel… like I do?”

For a split second, Lucius just looked startled, and Quill felt as if the floor had dropped out from under him. But then he smiled, with such unmistakable joyful wonder that Quill started breathing again.

“Oh, Birdie!” Lucius exclaimed, clasping his hand in both of his. “Really?”

“Really,” Quill replied, the same smile Lucius wore spreading across his own face as he stepped closer and pulled Lucius into a tight hug. 

* * *

**II.**

Lucius stumbled backwards, away from the line of fire, clutching a still-smouldering arm. Sentry and Aila had also been hit by the ball of fire that had burnt him, but had shrugged it off, scattering in different directions to avoid lining up for another blast. Fire, why was it always fire? Why was it never acid or cold, something he could absorb into his gauntlet… He looked around the deck of the _Stormchaser_ frantically, trying to assess the situation. Quill wasn’t far from him, half-obscured by a whirling cloud of golden feathers that had forced back the attackers around him. Sentry was already charging up to deal with those, green energy swirling around the blade of Her Majesty’s Rose and coalescing into thorny vines that wrapped around one of the attackers, bringing him to his knees. Further along the deck, Aila was now whirling the Howling Tempest, knocking down one fighter with a sickening crunch, while lighting arced from her arms to hit another. Up by the ballista, Nova held out one hand and clutched Tiangong in the other, two beams shooting towards the enemy ship. None of them needed his help urgently, and he didn’t think he could take another hit like that… pressing a hand to his chest, he summoned up a spectral frost to wrap around him and protect him, then used his dichromancy to pull some of that cold into an icy shard he hurled into the attacker nearest Quill.

What was the enemy spellcaster doing? As Lucius swung around to see, the man spread his fingers and a sheet of flame erupted from them, forcing back the wolfpack members who were trying to close on him. Not far back enough, though, there was little Lucius could do without risking hitting them… As he ran mentally through his options, golden feathers suddenly flew into his view, as Quill stepped up behind him. 

“Lucius! How are you?” he asked frantically.

“Not great!” Lucius replied with a grimace.

Quill nodded sharply and reached up to place his hand on Lucius’s shoulder, murmuring a prayer to H’Esper. The familiar warm magic spread through Lucius, healing his burns and reinvigorating him for the fight. 

“Thank you,” Lucius said, turning his head to press a quick kiss to Quill’s hand before turning back to the fight.

Calling on his magic, he swirled his hands together, summoning a sphere of acid into them. As he raised it up to fling it at the caster, though, he froze. He’d kissed Quill, right here in the middle of all this - what if someone had seen? They’d both agreed to keep their new relationship quiet for now, while it was still so new, still felt so delicate, knowing how bad they were as a group at keeping secrets - what if he’d messed that up? Fayeth, who was the only person he’d told, knowing she'd need to explain everything to the pack, was still figuring out how to do that - what if one of them had seen? No time to think about it now, he realized, shaking his head to clear it, and flung his spell; but the hesitation had thrown off his aim, and it went wide. Throwing his hands up in frustration, he used Quill's orange cloak to pull acid from the air and tossed it at a swordsman trying to sneak up on them, while Quill brought radiant flames down on the man’s head.

At last, the fight was over, the _Stormchaser_ snatching a narrow victory. Lucius dropped down on the stairs and looked around at everyone as they started tending to their wounds, Quill healing the worst injured while the doctor bandaged the rest. No-one was looking at him or Quill oddly (well, except Aila, who was teasing Quill for actually healing her, asking if he was concussed)... They must have been lucky, everyone must have been too busy fighting and the two of them too obscured by the whirling feathers to be noticed.

“Are you all right?” Quill asked, coming up next to him again. “I still have a little healing left if you need it…”

“No, I’ll be fine once I’ve had a rest, save it,” Lucius replied with a smile. Then, more seriously, “That was close.” He meant the battle, but also his foolish stolen kiss, and he hoped Quill would understand that. He didn’t dare speak more clearly with everyone around them, and - even if he hadn’t felt it his duty as Captain to stay on deck - he was too tired to move.

To his relief, Quill seemed to grasp the double meaning, looking at him searchingly and then nodding. “It was… but we’re fine.” Sitting down next to Lucius, he swirled his cloak, pretending to fuss with it and secretly squeezing Lucius’s arm under its shelter. “We’re fine,” he repeated, with a smile.

There was no time for more conversation then, as Oriya came up to them to discuss their next move with Lucius, but for now that was enough.

* * *

**III.**

Hurrying into the meeting room, Lucius glanced rapidly around. Only Quill had arrived so far; he was busy spreading out his maps, but looked up at Lucius with a smile so brilliant his heart skipped a beat. Impulsively, Lucius moved up next to him, bent down and kissed his cheek. Quill leaned into it for a second, then pulled away.

“Lucius, don’t,” he said, the attempted severity of his voice undercut by the love in his eyes. “What if the girls had come in?”

“They aren’t here yet,” Lucius answered, with another swift peck. 

“They’ll be here any - ” the creak of the door cut him off, and Lucius practically jumped away to a safe distance “ - minute, h-hi,” he finished his sentence, as Aila and Sentry walked into the room. “Where - where’s Nova?” he asked, hoping to distract Aila; Sentry seemed focussed on Vis, who had warmed up to her again and was now perched on her shoulder, but Aila was looking from him to Lucius.

“I’m here, sorry, I was down in the engine room!” Nova herself answered, running in. 

“Right, good, everyone’s here, let’s start,” Lucius said quickly. “Qui - Quartermaster Quill, you have our route into the Valley?”

“Ye - yes, Captain,” Quill said, pushing the relevant map into the centre of the table as the others leant in to see it.

The meeting went on for a long time after that, as they discussed options and possibilities, tried to come up with the best questions for Quill to ask once the Eye of the Storm should regain its magic in a couple of days. Nova went over what she and Johan had built, explaining how she expected it to work, and Quill described his vision once more. Vis (who had not been ejected from the meeting for once, as there seemed to be no harm in him hearing this) grew interested at the mention of a dragon, sitting upright and projecting a feeling of curiosity at Quill. When Quill explained he’d only heard a roar, he dropped back down and eventually fell asleep, curled around Sentry’s shoulders.

At last, Aila grew impatient and pointed out that they were talking in circles - until they got closer to the Valley, or were able to get more information, through Quill’s eye or in some other way, there was nothing else they could do. There was no arguing with that, so the meeting broke up, everyone preparing to get back to their duties.

“Oh, Quill, I wanted to check a few things about our supplies with you, if you have a minute?” Lucius said nonchalantly, pausing in the doorway of the meeting room once everyone else had left it.

“Oh, uh, sure, I - I have some time,” Quill stammered. “I - see you later,” he added, with a general wave in the others’ direction, and darted back into the meeting room, closing the door behind him.

Aila narrowed her eyes at the door, then turned to the others. “Do they think we’re idiots?” she demanded.

“Shhh! They’ll hear you!” Sentry whispered back, taking Aila and Nova’s arms and pulling them further along the corridor, out of earshot.

Aila pulled a face at Sentry, but lowered her voice. “Okay, okay, I’ll be quiet. But seriously, how dumb do they think we are? They’re always sneaking off together, and staring at each other, they must realise we’d notice something! Even I’m not that dumb.”

“I know, but we agreed we wouldn’t say anything until they did. We have to let them tell us,” Sentry said.

“Fine, but it’s dumb. Don’t they trust us?”

“Of course they do,” Sentry said, a little sharply. Deep down, she was slightly hurt that Quill was hiding this from her. He’d been her first friend in the new Aerois she’d found herself in, and she wanted so much to celebrate this new happiness she saw in him with him… But she wasn’t going to let anyone know she was hurt, she’d protect him even if he didn’t know she was doing it.

“I’m sure it’s not that,” Nova said. “There’s Lucius’s thing with Fayeth for a start, but mostly I expect they just want to keep it quiet for a bit, to get used to it themselves before springing it on us… I think it’s sweet,” she finished, a hint of wistfulness in her voice. 

“It’s dumb,” Aila insisted. “All right, Sentry, I won’t say anything, but they’d better tell us soon! I can’t stand much more of this pretending not to know anything.”

“They’ll tell us when they’re ready,” Sentry said, as she had every time they'd had this discussion.

“We should all act surprised when they do!” Nova exclaimed, excited, then lowered her voice again as Sentry hushed her. 

Aila rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m not doing that.”

“Oh, Aila, please!”

“Nope, not happening,” Aila said, walking away.

Nova hurried after her. “I’m not stopping until you agree, say you will, Aila, come on.”

Sentry followed the pair, chuckling to herself. Aila could be stubborn, but in this instance, she was betting Nova would get her way.

* * *

**IV.**

Fayeth rolled over in her hammock and glared sleepily at Pasca, who had just hissed her name. “What? I’m trying to sleep, I was on the night shift last night.”

“I know, I’m sorry, but I’ve been trying to catch you alone and this is the first chance I’ve had,” Pasca said, sounding genuinely apologetic. “I have to tell you something.”

“Well, what is it?” 

“I…” Pasca trailed off, then growled in frustration. “There’s no good way to say it gently. I think the Captain’s cheating on you.”

“What?!” Fayeth sat up, clutching at the sides of the hammock to avoid being thrown out. “That’s ridiculous.” 

“I was helping Engineer Nova carry some things to the book room yesterday, and I went ahead to hold the door for her, and I saw the Captain behind one of the shelves, kissing the Quartermaster.”

“So? They’re best friends, it’s not that weird,” Fayeth said, thoughts racing. 

She’d been half-expecting something like this might happen, from the moment Lucius - blushing and stammering - had told her how he and Quill had finally realised their feelings for each other. She’d been delighted to hear it, having been quietly certain Lucius was pining for his friend for some time now; but she’d also been very glad they were going to keep it a secret for a bit, give her time to explain things to the pack. She hadn’t spoken to them yet, though, flinching away from the deed each time she tried to screw up her courage to do it. Now, she needed to find some way to throw Pasca off the scent at least for a little while… 

Pasca scoffed. “Did he tell you that?” she asked pityingly. “If there’s nothing weird about it, why were they hiding? Why did they start acting like they’d been looking at the books as soon as we went in and they realised we were there?”

“I don’t know, maybe because they thought people might make a fuss about it like you’re doing now?” Fayeth said, leaning back and trying to look casual.

“You’re so naive, Fayeth. I’m telling you, there’s something going on.”

“And I’m telling you you’re wrong. I know Lucius isn’t cheating on me,” Fayeth replied, hoping the earnestness in her voice would make Pasca see she was being truthful. It was the truth, after all, in a weird way, just… not as Pasca would expect it to be.

Pasca shook her head, looking unconvinced. “You didn’t see what I saw.”

“I don’t need to. Trust me, everything’s fine…” she yawned deliberately, then went on, “Can I get some sleep now?”

“Sure, whatever,” Pasca grumbled, ears flicking straight up in annoyance. “I’m going to keep an eye on him, though - ”

“Let it go, Pasca!” Fayeth snarled, sitting up again. Pasca looked startled - Fayeth rarely reacted in such a wolfish way - and Fayeth pressed her advantage. “It’s fine, and I can take care of myself. Now let me sleep!”

“Fine, if that’s what you think! Don’t come crying to me when you work out I'm right!” Pasca snarled back, and stormed out, slamming the door behind her. 

Left alone, Fayeth slumped back in her hammock with a groan. She’d have to tell Lucius and Quill about this, and… there was no putting it off, she needed to tell the pack the truth about her “marriage” to Lucius. It had been so nice, to not have them teasing and pestering her all the time, would that all start again? And they were going to be so angry with her for lying to them for so long… Suddenly, she remembered something Lucius had said, when she’d mentioned her worries about it. “If they hadn’t been so awful to you, you wouldn’t have needed to lie to them in the first place.” It was true, she knew, but she didn’t think it would be easy to get the pack to understand that. Maybe Kamara, who had backed up the lie after all, would help her to make them see it, if she asked? But she needed to do all this now, before things went any further, before Pasca spoke to anyone else. With a sigh for her lost sleep, she rolled out of her hammock and went to find Lucius.

* * *

**+I.**

In the grey light before dawn, Lucius made his way up to the top deck of the _Stormchaser_. Oriya, just taking over from Lancien who had been helming the ship through the night, saluted him, then nodded up at the crows’ nest. Lucius returned the salute and looked up, to where he could see Quill’s spyglass turning this way and that, scanning the horizon. With a smile and a nod back to Oriya, Lucius found an out-of-the way spot by the railings - there was almost no-one on deck so early, but soon people would start coming up - and sat down, gazing out towards the east.

There was a rush of wind and the sound of clawed feet scrabbling on the deck behind him, then two wings wrapped around him, one feathered, one wood and leather. Lucius leaned back into them, smiling, as Quill rubbed his soft head against Lucius’s cheek in the aarakocra version of a kiss. 

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Quill said, dropping down beside him without breaking the hug.

“Sleepyhead? The sun’s not even up yet! And I need less sleep than you do, anyway,” Lucius replied with mock affronted dignity.

“And yet somehow I’m always the first one out of bed,” Quill teased him.

“Well, you’re so cuddly, Birdie, why would I want to get up?” Lucius asked, wrapping an arm around Quill and nestling against him.

Quill laughed. “You’re incorrigible,” he told Lucius fondly. 

Lucius just smiled and kissed him. Even now, it still felt so wonderful to be free to do this, to cuddle with his boyfriend, to wait for the sunrise in the shelter of his wings, to kiss him openly. Lucius suspected it would always feel this way. He hoped it would, he never wanted to take any of this for granted.

“This is lovely,” Quill murmured, rubbing his head against Lucius’s cheek again. “I still can’t believe how lucky I am.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Lucius said, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of Quill’s beak.

Quill rested his head on Lucius’s shoulder, and looked back towards the ocean. “Look, the sun’s rising.”

Lucius looked out too, and they both sat in silence for a while, enjoying the beauty of the scene, and the quiet peacefulness of their embrace. 

“I love you, Birdie.”

“I love you too.”


End file.
